ONE of the most famous items of clothing in the country has found its way into the hands of a Clare GAA club as the prize in a fundraising raffle, writes Gordon Deegan.
Star of hit drama Normal People Paul Mescal has donated a signed pair of his iconic O’Neill’s GAA shorts to Cooraclare GAA club to help it raise €20,000 in a €10 raffle.
Mescal, who set a few hearts racing when lining out in the shorts for sports scenes of the hit show last year has signed the shorts with the dedication ‘to the Normal People of Cooraclare’.
You can win a signed pair of Paul Mescal's iconic G.A.A. shorts if you enter our prize draw. All proceeds go to the Club and tickets start at 10 Euro https://t.co/UIMNOSbLWG #PaulMescal #GAA @PaulMescalNews @mescal_paul and @GaaClare pic.twitter.com/CjndJeifGk
— Cooraclare Gaa (@CooraclareGaa) October 7, 2021
The actor has close family links to the west Clare village. Paul’s father, Paul Snr was born in the parish and his Uncle Paudie, nephews and nieces, Clodagh, Aoibhinn, Páraic and Darragh Jim and first cousins are an integral part of the Cooraclare Club today.
Club spokesman, Joe Considine said, “We are delighted to have one of our own doing so well in the entertainment world.
“The whole Mescal family are great supporters of the club so when Paul came along to watch his God son, Daragh Jim, train with the club’s under 9s recently he kindly agreed to sign a few items for us including, of course, the iconic shorts.”
Tickets to enter the draw are €10 and Mr Considine said: “The past two years have been tough for everyone and the importance of the GAA Club to all Irish communities was never so obvious. This kind donation by Paul will, we hope, help to raise some much-needed funds for our club. He kicked around with some of the boys for a while and was very generous with his time.”
The shorts come framed and ready for hanging on the wall and in addition to the shorts, Paul has signed a club football jersey which is also up for grabs.
Mr Considine said: “Our club facilities at Caherue have served us well for the best part of 40 years but now need to be updated.”
He said: “By supporting our raffle people are getting behind the planned upgrade and renovation of our facilities that will support, encourage and develop future generations of Cooraclare footballers.”
Earlier this year, sportswear firm, O’Neill’s credited the ‘Paul Mescal effect’ with contributing to a 20% increase in the sales of O’Neills shorts in 2020.
Mescal made the €20 O’Neill’s shorts one of the most sought after fashion items of 2020. The former Kildare minor football captain was photographed out and about during 2020 sporting his O’Neill’s shorts before wearing them with a €10,000 fleece for a GQ cover photo shoot last autumn.
Click here to buy a raffle ticket.